The Mets quickly considered themselves priced out of the Jhonny Peralta sweepstakes, and now that he’s a Cardinal, the shortstop market is even more sparse — and potentially expensive.
St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak admitted as much in a press conference Monday, after Peralta’s four-year deal worth a reported $53 million became official.
“The shortstop market … was one that was not deep in free agents,” Mozeliak said. “There were really two being bantered about us. For us, it was really focusing on someone who could hit from the right side, somebody that was a steady defensive player, someone that had experience and could fit right in.”
The other major shortstop on the market is Stephen Drew, who is represented by Scott Boras and will cost a draft pick after turning down a qualifying offer from Boston.
And as Mozeliak pointed out, trading for a shortstop will almost certainly be costly, too.
“We certainly explored the trade market at many levels, trying to see what we could do there,” Mozeliak said, “But the acquisition costs seemed very preventative for us to move forward with that.”
So that leaves the Mets wondering if they will have to go back to Ruben Tejada after all but writing him off earlier in the offseason.
They hadn’t completely given up on the 24-year-old, having sent Tejada to Michigan with Lucas Duda to improve his conditioning, but management did point to shortstop as a position they hoped to improve upon.
The Mets had hoped Peralta would settle for a two-year deal. The Cardinals had the same goal, but eventually upped their offer.
“Two [years] would have made a lot more sense, but that wasn’t possible,” Mozeliak said. “You have to sometimes adjust to what’s going on. Fortunately for us, one of the resources we did have was payroll flexibility, and we decided to deploy it that way.”
And Peralta’s price tag hints other possible Mets targets may not come cheap, despite PED ties. Like Peralta, outfielder Nelson Cruz served a 50-game suspension because of Biogenesis.
Former Met and Mets hitting coach Howard Johnson was named hitting coach of the Mariners on Monday. He will be working with new manager Lloyd McClendon. Johnson was the hitting coach for Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma last season and last worked in the majors with the Mets. … Chris Young, who agreed to a one-year contract with the Mets last week, is not expected to take his physical this week, so the official announcement of the deal will be delayed.